Tapas de Espana: Top-notch tapas in North Bergen

Tim Farrell/The Star-LedgerMauro Garcia, chef of Tapas de EspaÃ±a restaurant in North Bergen.

The earnest waiters at Tapas de España do not wear skinny monochrome ties or tone-on-tone neckware; these are not the ties of sartorial young competitors on Chelsea sidewalks. The waiters are quite distinguished, yes, but their ties, lively and wide, are from a different era.

Have the food and you’ll get why.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the distinguished food of Spain, long before the great and wonderful chef Ferran Adrià changed our perception of Spanish food. Tapas de España does not offer modernist cuisine, or push the envelope of gastronomic creativity with culinary tricks. These are the classics, so classic that tripe appears on the specials menu several times a week, and people are happy to see it.

“We do not try to adapt to the environment of the United States,” says owner Gerardo Antelo.

Truth is, he’s a bit more flexible than that — hamburger sliders do boldly announce themselves at the top of the tapas specials menu, and one of the salads is made with tuna and cranberries. But mostly, the menu book details the foods of the regions of Spain, from octopus to grilled pork, from mussels rellenos to chorizo with onions, from empanadas to asparagus, from lamb chops to paella. Antelo’s philosophy is pretty much a purist’s philosophy, and he proves it with his weekly expenditure on saffron, which hovers near the $300 mark.

Antelo, who was born in Spain and who has owned this restaurant for more than a decade, is also a purist about freshness — the nearby Lincoln Tunnel allows him the luxury of deliveries sometimes twice a day from the same purveyor, if needed. Still, he’s frugal about what he orders. Customers who come in for something specific have learned to reserve their dinner when they reserve their table; otherwise it might be gone before you get here.

The restaurant has a sparkling list of entrees, but the idea of a dinner comprised of small plates was far too appealing for us (another genius dining trend for which we can thank Spain).

Dinner (even a collection of tapas) begins with soup, ours a somewhat nondescript creamy asparagus that belied the intensity of what followed. Everything else was far from nondescript.

Tapas are as bold as the restaurant’s Spanish red wine. Piquillo peppers with sautéed cod ($9.95), glistening with olive oil, are saturated with flavor. Serrano ham, crisped enough to remind you of bacon but not so much to rob its moisture or flavor, wraps itself around a marriage of blue cheese and dates ($8.95); it’s a combination so perfectly matched you’re reminded why opposites attract and create fireworks in the process. Mini burgers ($12.95), made with strip loin, sit on amazing, fresh and crusty homemade rolls, and get their own infusion from Spain with a bit of toasted Serrano and Manchego cheese. Plus aioli. What a delight.

Grilled shrimp in garlic ($8.95) are the standard others try to reach, and the octopus, with olive oil and a lively bit of paprika ($10.95), was also good, if not quite reaching that elusive high note of silkiness of which this dish, at times, is capable.